A variety of aircraft data is available for use on an aircraft. Data relevant to a flight can be available from a number of aviation data sources. For example, an aircraft's navigation system e.g. Flight Management System (FMS) currently stores several databases. The database used for flight planning and trajectory prediction is the Navigation Database (NDB), which is stored in the FMS. The NDB is a static database that has a predetermined update cycle (e.g., 28 days) in which it is maintained. Currently, maintenance personnel are required to manually update the NDB on this cycle. The NDB is used to ensure that, for instance, planned closures of runways or navigational aids get reflected so that the flight crew or the FMS cannot select them during the predetermined time period between update cycles. The FMS can also store or access a Supplemental NDB that is used by the crew to store temporary navigation data.
Air Traffic Control (ATC) uses data communications to uplink route clearances to aircraft electronically. The FMS can then load the route clearance into the FMS where it can be inserted into the flight plan that will be used to guide the aircraft. These route clearances are currently limited to data that are contained within the static NDB of the FMS. The exception to that are waypoints that can also be defined by their position (i.e. latitude and longitude). Thus, while the ATC can up-link a clearance that contains a flight procedure that is not available in the NDB of the aircraft, the pilot will not be able to load it into the FMS.